Let's start by thinking back to every Ross Geller freak out ever - most classically when he's drank 3 too many pitchers of margaritas and slurs this speech: "L is for life - what is life without love? O is for oh wow! V is for a very surprising turn of events and E is for how extreeeemely normal I find this". And that was my actual mood getting back the floral quotes. Ross Geller style nervous breakdown.
Now the level of DIY for florals obviously depends on what exactly you're looking for and which parts are most important to you. I know that the bridal/bridesmaids bouquets that I want are very minimalist and clean with open white roses, a touch of greenery, and long natural stems. While my table centerpieces are a lot more intricate AND I know my guests will be seeing those up much closer than my bouquets, I know to leave those to the professionals.
This DIY test was very spur of the moment so I've listed everything I used, but also what I would do differently for the real thing.
1. 1 Dozen standard white roses
2. Floral tape
3. Vase with water and flower food
4. Scissors
5. Glass of wine and a good playlist
LET'S DO THIS! The expectation is that we're making this for use the next day. So while I am going to cut a few of the leaves off and place them throughout the finished bouquet, I would wait to do that day of so they stay fresh. The most time consuming (and not even that consuming) part of this to do ahead of time was opening (or reflexing) the roses. I didn't even know this was a thing before doing my research but it is and that's how you get the lush full look I'm going for.
One rose at a time you super gently fold back the outer 2-3 layers of the rose petals. This will pretty much mask any bruising the petals might have but you can start by pruning the bruised petals first if needed.
Before After
This next part, beware if your fiancee and friend hypothetically walk into the room to see you doing this without any context, it will be awkward but you know what WE'RE SAVING US SOME MONEY SO YOU'RE WELCOME DARLING. You're going to blow as hard as you can into the center of the flower so it opens it up juuuust a little bit - hopefully enough for you to fit a finger right into the center.
Gently working with your index finger and thumb and in small increments, you're pushing and opening the petals away from the center. You'll turn the rose a couple of times to get every angle. There's no right or wrong for how much you open it and now is the time to test it out - see how open you like them! After each rose is opened, place the stem in the flower food and water.
This is the photo I used for inspiration, and it has more of a triangular or dome shape than it does a true circular/round shape. Now that we're ready to piece the bouquet together and after cutting off the leaves as far down the stem as you choose (we'll place some of those at the top later so don't be scared to snip), we'll try to make that same dome like shape by placing the first few roses at the highest point, and then making levels tapering down the front. Typically bouquets do have a "front" and that's the side that's facing us while we piece together and should obviously be the most lush! After I had a shape I liked..............................
You might need an assistant to hold the bouquet nice and tight while you wrap some tape around the stems a few times and boom! Almost done. Like I said earlier, this was a spontaneous trial so for the actual big day, I'm going to research local (to my venue) floral boutiques and call them first to A. ensure they'll have the flowers I need in stock in that season and B. make sure they'll have pure white as I felt like these were more ivory. ** UPDATE since doing more research: I'll be using an online wholesale provider for my flower purchases - new blog post coming soon with all of the deets!!!
Last touches, I went back and added some of the green leaves I had snipped to the top. The only downside with this is that the leaves easily fall out since the stems aren't very long. For the real thing, I'll purchase greenery - I really think eucalyptus would be perfect plus smells amaze!
This is a dozen roses and perfect bridesmaid size! For my bouquet I'll probably use a dozen and a half or 2 dozen.
Time and $$ spent: This one bouquet took about 30 minutes total which ain't too shabby! These roses were $12 (mind you, I expect the ones I get from a boutique to be closer to $25) and the floral tape $5.
This DIY is 20% the cost of a pro.
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